Chapter 192

Tang Xuan originally thought he was just hosting an old friend on behalf of his grandmother, but he never expected to make an unexpected discovery: the child abduction case they were investigating might actually be related to cult members.

Moreover, this could very well be a new breakthrough in the case.

He instantly cast aside his previous thoughts about his personal love life and focused all his attention on the female Taoist priest.

"Does Grandpa Qin have any evidence that can prove she is engaged in cult activities?"

Qin Lide shook his head: "We haven't caught her in the act yet, and we're still investigating her situation. We didn't expect to find her whereabouts here."

Tang Xuan was somewhat disappointed. He quickly sent messages to his colleagues, telling them about the new information he had obtained, and planned to return to the bureau after dinner to focus on studying the female Taoist priest.

With the case on his mind, he ate the rest of the meal absentmindedly, constantly recalling the details of the case and having some new doubts.

"If this person is indeed a cult member, then there must be others behind her. Could they be the perpetrators in these child abduction cases?"

"They're running a cult and committing fraud on one hand, and they even dare to traffic children on the other. They have some serious audacity."

Tang Xuan thought this, and then said it aloud.

Unexpectedly, Qin Lide was stunned when he heard his words. Then, as if he had thought of something, he was struck by lightning on the spot. His hand trembled, and his chopsticks fell to the table with a "clatter".

His expression changed drastically, and his voice sounded completely off: "...Chu Er!"

"Huh?" Tang Xuan was completely confused. "The second day of the lunar month? Today isn't the second day of the lunar month, isn't it the eleventh day of the lunar month?"

Qin Lide ignored him and turned to ask Qin Su, "Little Dong gave us Chu Shuangyan's real birthday, what was it again?"

Qin Su didn't even need to look; she recited it off the top of her head.

Qin Lide repeated it as if to confirm, muttering, "This birth date, this year, month, and day, twenty-five years, exactly twenty-five years. So it was the same day. No wonder, no wonder..."

He seemed lost in some distant memory, or perhaps he had fallen into some kind of illusion, his eyes glazed over.

“…Chu Shuangyan…Chu Er…the missing child…So that’s how it is…”

Tang Xuan didn't understand what "eight characters" and "twenty-five years" meant. He asked, "Grandpa Qin, what are you talking about? What do you mean, 'So that's how it is,' Grandpa Qin?"

Qin Lide did not respond to his words at all.

Tang Xuan looked to Qin Su for help, but Qin Su calmly said, "Grandpa is thinking about something. Don't ask him. He'll tell you when he's thought it through."

As expected, she understood Qin Lide best. Qin Lide muttered to himself for a few minutes, then spaced out for a while before his expression gradually returned to normal.

This time, he was much more serious and said to Tang Xuan, "I can't explain too much to you right now, and whether you know about it is not up to me. But this is a big case. Go back and report to your superiors. Tell them to contact the special incident management department. The missing child is related to Chu Shuangyan, and Chu Shuangyan is very likely related to a man named Chu Er who died 25 years ago. They will understand."

Tang Xuan was stunned: "What do you mean? What is the Special Events Management Department? I've never heard of it before. Why would a big star like Chu Shuangyan get involved? Isn't he a victim of cult fraud?"

Qin Lide said, "Just go back and report to your superiors in your bureau. Someone will know. Wait for them to send someone over."

Tang Xuan frowned, seeing that Qin Lide was not joking at all, and sat in his chair thinking hard.

The thought that Qin Lide was a member of the Xuanmen sect, while the female Taoist priest was a member of some kind of "cult," made him vaguely realize something.

He gritted his teeth, decided not to eat, got up to pay the bill, and then came back to Qin Lide and Qin Su, saying, "I didn't expect such a sudden situation tonight. I'll go back to the station to report now, and I'll contact you immediately if there's any news."

Qin Su nodded, and Qin Lide said, "Business is important, you should go quickly, we might meet again soon."

Tang Xuan let out a deep breath and turned to leave the restaurant.

***

Qin Lide's prediction was correct. Tang Xuan called him the next afternoon, asking him to come to their bureau and emphasizing that the people from the special events management department had already arrived.

The assistant sent by Dong's agent had been waiting in the lobby. He was quite surprised to hear that the two of them were going to the police station, but he was also tactful enough not to ask any questions. He just stepped on the gas and drove them to their destination.

Tang Xuan ran out to meet them.

Even though it had been less than 24 hours since the three of them last met, Tang Xuan looked like he had been in some desolate wilderness for four or five years. His clothes were wrinkled, his hair was greasy and messy, his lips were dry and chapped, and the dark circles under his eyes were even worse than yesterday.

Qin Lide couldn't help but tease, "What did you do all night? Reshape your worldview?"

Tang Xuan smiled bitterly, opened his mouth as if to say something, but before he could speak, the three of them walked into the police station compound and heard loud wailing coming from not far away.

Outside the office building, a middle-aged couple knelt on the ground, crying hoarsely, "...Please, I'll serve you like a slave for the rest of my life. You must find Tingting, you must find Tingting..."

The woman was about to kowtow to the person next to her. Although the person next to her was dressed in civilian clothes, he was probably a policeman. He quickly knelt down and stopped her.

"Sister Ma, don't worry, we will do our best."

The woman, known as Sister Ma, held his arm, tears streaming down her face.

"It's all my fault, it's all my fault... My daughter, my Tingting, I only looked down at my phone for a moment... I deserve to die, I deserve to die!"

As she cried, she raised her hand and slapped herself twice, hitting herself hard, her cheeks instantly turning red and swollen.

People around her rushed forward to help her and stop her from harming herself.

The woman didn't struggle; she simply collapsed to the ground, as if all her strength had been drained, and buried her face in her hands, weeping bitterly.

Her cries echoed in the spacious courtyard, rough and painful, and passersby looked on with pity.

The smile on Qin Lide's face had vanished. He was getting old and couldn't bear to see families torn apart. His eyes reddened slightly as he asked, "Are these the parents who lost their children?"

Tang Xuan gave a low "hmm": "This is a case from half a month ago. It involved a little girl. Her family was celebrating her sixth birthday. After leaving the restaurant, her father went to get the car, and her mother looked down to reply to a few messages. When she looked up again, the child was gone."

“From the day the child was lost, the couple came to the police station every day to ask about the situation. They also spent money to put missing person notices on the vehicles of many street vendors. The mother always felt that she was only looking at her phone and made a mistake. She even had suicidal thoughts at one point.”

He turned his head away, not daring to look at the disheveled couple any longer. "We checked all the surveillance cameras in the vicinity, but the camera in the place where the child was last seen was broken..."

Qin Lide sighed, patted his shoulder, and comforted him, "It's not your problem, it's the people who did the evil who deserve to die."

"Besides, you probably already know that the perpetrators weren't ordinary people." Qin Su looked at him, her eyes clear and sharp. "They must have some strange methods."

Tang Xuan hadn't felt anything yesterday, but now, under her gaze, he felt completely exposed, as if she knew everything he had said and done.

"I... I don't know much either." He wiped his face, still somewhat incredulous as he recalled what his superior had told him. "But my superior allowed me to join the investigation this time."

He had a premonition that the worldview he had formed over the past thirty years might be completely shattered.

The three of them arrived at the office while they were talking. Tang Xuan knocked on the door three times, and a voice inside said, "Come in." He then pushed the door open and went in.

Sitting in the office were a man and a woman, sent by the special incident management department. There was also a Taoist priest in his thirties standing there, who was said to have been invited to help. In addition, there were Tang Xuan's direct superior and senior superior, as well as two colleagues who would be working on the case together.

Tang Xuan politely greeted the group and was about to turn around to introduce Qin Su and Qin Lide when the male Taoist priest strode over and exclaimed in surprise, "Fellow Daoist Qin?"